Hello all. My husband is experiencing OCD and PTSD. He’s been having very bad thoughts for a month now. His doctor prescribed Citalopram and he has been taking it for 5 days now. The pill make him very tired and anxious and he cannot sleep at night. I read in some articles that these feelings will go away after 1-2 week(s) and then he will start being happy again. Has anyone here experienced the same thing? Do you have any recommendations for me which would help me to support him better? I wanna see him happy again...

^ I am also on 200 mg sertraline and have tolerated it well

Citalopram did make me very tired I have to say, but it did also help my PTSD :)

I’ve heard there is genetic testing that can be done to determine which is the best medication for someone...

Thanks everyone! I think he should give it a few weeks to see if the side effect would be gone. He has an appointment with his doctor in two weeks so we’re gonna let him know about all his symptoms. Hopefully it’s gonna work...

I was on citalopram and they made me feel worse so was swapped to sertraline which has made things a little better after 3weeks on 200mg

Had good reviews from 6-8 weeks of sertraline working well against ocd symptoms

I did genetic testing through my psychiatrist's practice. The service she used is called Genomind. It actually didn't inform any of my med choices, but I've heard some people say it's useful. You could ask your dr what he/she thinks

but yeah, I'm not an md so ask your dr?

I don't have any knowledge about the meds, but it's great that you're such a supportive partner to your husband.

My experience with meds is that side effects are hard to predict. Someone can do great on a med while another person does terrible. Sometimes you have to give something a shot for a couple weeks and see if the side effects are manageable. But you shouldn't feel bad if you really feel like the side effects are too much. There are lots of options out there that you might tolerate better. As always, talk with your doctor about your concerns and don't go primarily off of Internet sources. ? I'm not trying to give medical advice either, since I'm not a doctor? (ironic, sometimes I have ocd about getting sued for giving medical advice as a non-md, so yeah, just to be clear I'm not giving medical advice?)

You’re correct that most side effects go away in the first couple of weeks. He won’t necessarily start “being happy again” after that period, but the meds will likely stop causing insomnia and extra anxiety. After that, it can take up to 3 months for the meds to build up and reach their full effectiveness in the brain. Every persons chemistry is a little different, so you may notice changes quickly or it may take time. Some people see no relief with meds. Unfortunately, we’re still in a weird place with psychiatric drugs where we sort of have to just experiment and see what works. In the mean time: avoid making any stressful life changes right now, plan plenty of time for rest and relaxation, see if he can start practicing mindfulness daily (there are lots of good apps for this, I use Stop, Breathe & Think.) If he can start seeing an OCD Specialist, either in person or online, that will greatly speed up his healing and reduce the risk of relapse. Good luck!